World summit on sustainable development

In August and September 2002, the World Summit on Sustainable Development
took place in Johannesburg, South Africa, marking the tenth anniversary of the
Rio 'Earth Summit'. UK government, industry and environmental organisations
played a full part in all the major debates, including those related to
forestry.

Although forestry did not capture the headlines from Johannesburg, it was a
topic of intense activity. The UK joined in some important initiatives, notably
on forest restoration, and we made the Summit the occasion to promote the UK Forest Partnership for Action. Linked to this is a UK
Statement on Sustainable Forestry, a draft of which was also presented at the
Summit. Input to the Statement was invited through these pages during
preparations for Johannesburg and the final Statement will be published later
this year.